Automatic siphon.



No. 710,703. Patented ont. 7, |902..

s. w. MILLER.

AUTOMATIC SIPHON.

(Application med Jan. 9, 189e.)

(No Model.)

UNrrnn Sri-frits PATENT OFFICE.

SIDNEY W. MILLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC SlPHON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,703, dated October '7, 1902.

Application filed January 9, 1896. Serial No. 574,832. (No model.)

To all 1071/0711, it muy concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY V. MILLER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Siphons; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic siphons or siphons of that class which are connected with a tank or reservoir which is filled gradually by a more or less constant small stream of liquid to a certain height, at which point the siphou is brought into action automatically and operates to discharge the tank rapidly.

The invention is herein shown as applied to a siphon adapted for iiushing sewers and is similar to that described in my United States Letters Patent No. 449,083, granted March 24, 1891. The invention is, however, obviously applicable to other uses. In siphons of the class set forth in said prior patent the siphon is brought into action by the sudden escape of a quantity of air through the seal, which air in its upward passage through said seal throws out a quantityrof liquid, so that when the column of liquid in the seal and the body of water in the tank rush toward each other to take the place of the air which has thus escaped and restore the equilibrium thus destroyed the liquid column in the seal by reason of its having been thus diminished will be overbalanced and thrown out, and the siphon thus brought into full action. It will be evident from the foregoing that the certainty of action of the siphon is dependent upon the amount of liquid suddenly thrown out by the escaping air and that this is in turn dependent principally upon the amount of air released in one body or bubble.

It is the object of the present invention to disclose a construction whereby the air will be held back or retarded in its escape and the airthus accumulated caused to escape in a larger body or bubble when its release occurs.

The invention will be more readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a vertical sectional view through a basin or reservoir equipped with a siphon embodying my invention, the latter being shown in axial section. Figs. 2 and 3 are similar axial sections of siphons embodying the invention. Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional View taken on line 4 4 of Figs. l and 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of a siphon similar to that of Fig. l, except in its cross-sectional form. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

The invention is herein shown as embodied in a siphon adapted for rapidly discharging the contents of a Hush-tank which is filled gradually, the object of thus discharging the contents rapidly being to tlush out the sewerpipe leading therefrom, and thus prevent it from becoming clogged.

Referring to said drawings, A designates the flush-tank or reservoir, which may be of any usual construction; B, the iniiow or feed pipe, through which the reservoir is filled gradually; C, the sewer or drain, into which the reservoir is discharged, and D the siphon as a whole, by means of which the liquid is conducted from the reservoir into the drain.

The siphon D comprises an intaking-limb D', forming the shorter leg of the Siphon, and the mouth of which is located near the bottom of the tank, a discharge-limb D2, forming the longer leg of the Siphon, and a seal D3, having the form of a returned or upwardlyextending pipe connected with the lower end of the longer leg of the siphon proper. The intaking-limb D is in this instance shown as having the form of a bell or dome which surrounds the upper end of the longer leg or descending limb D2, the horizontal lower margin d of said bell being located a short distance above the floor ot' the basin. The bell is conveniently supported inithis position by means of a plurality of legs d CZ', which rest upon the said door. The upper delivery end of the seal D3 projects upwardly within the drain-pipe C in a manner substantially similar to that shown in said prior patent. The

precise form of the delivery end of the part D3 is not essential to the working of the siphon so long as it is so constructed that the liquid heaved up or displaced by the upward IOO passage of escaping air is allowed to escape freely from the end of said seal. Obviously when the upper end of the seal is made horizontal and to project freely above the door of the drain-pipe the liquid will be free to flow over the edge of the pipe around its entire periphery, and this will therefore be a most advantageous form.

As set forth in my prior patent referred to, the seal or ascending part D3 of the Siphon is united with the lower endl'ofthe descendingleg by means of an integral U-shaped bend which is substantially circular in cross-section, so that air in escapingaround said bend will form for itself a segmental passage at the upper inner side of said bend. I have discovered by providing the upper inner side of that part of the Siphon which connects the lower end of the discharge-limb with the lower end of the seal, along which the air passes in its escape from the discharge-limb to the seal, with a horizontal or substantially horizontal portion, so as to increase the area of the surface of the Siphon at the highest point of escape of air therein, the air will be retarded and prevented from escaping around said lower part in small bubbles at once when the water-level is depressed to the level of the upper side thereof, but, owing to the increased capillary attraction due to the increased area of surface at this point, will accumulate in the form of an elongated bubble or a Series of bubbles along said upper side. The result is that when it finally escapes it will escape all together in a larger body and with more force, throwing a larger quantity of liquid out at the upper end of the seal and rendering the action of the Siphon more positive and certain. Another result of the accumulation of a body of air and consequent pressure is that Said body of air will be thrown out into the seal and away from the vertical wall thereof, so that the passage of air therethrough will be unobstructed. I have further discovered that this retarding action will be augmented if the interior of thatpart along which the bubble forms be roughened, as shown at d2, Fig. 5, so as toincrease the capillary attraction between the liquid and the pipe above the normal. The air will thus be retarded and allowed to accumulate in a large body; but When vent is afforded the body of air will escape at once with considerable force,so that said roughened surface will not act to prevent the ready escape thereof. I have also discovered that this retarding action may be still further and very materially increased by forming that part of the Siphon along Which the air accumulates in the form of a horizontally-ex tending plane surface-that is, extending horizontally both transversely and longitudinally of the passagepreferably of a Width approximately equal to the diameter of the pipe and of varying length, depending on the general shape of the Siphon, as shown clearly at dand d" in Figs. 1,2, and 4, it being understood that within reasonable limits the improved effect will be in a measure proportioned to the extent of horizontal area thus provided. I have found that with this construction when the liquid has been sufficiently depressed in the descending leg of the Siphon the air will first, instead of immediately passing around to the seal and escaping up through the latter, gradually creep along the said horizontally-eXtended part and accumulate in the form of one or more elongated bubbles, approximately as shown at d5, Fig. 1, until a relatively large quantity of air has accumulated below the highest level at which it might escape to the seal were it not for this capillary attraction, and when its escape finally does occur the whole quantity thus accumulated below 'the level of Said plane surface Will be liberated practically together in a single charge, thereby throwing out a materially-increased amount of liquid from the upper end of the seal.

It is to be understood that to secure the most desirable results in siphons of this character the increase of surface at the highest point at which the air may escape should be of considerable length as distinguished from a projection extending into the interior of the siphon from side to side thereof at the opening of the seal, but of relatively short length, and therefore offer little resistence to the air which is forced through the descending limb of the Siphon` for within certain limits the efciency of the device is in proportion to the area of the horizontal surface, due regard being had to the said surface being sufficiently long.

By combining the several means of auginenting the accumulation of air above described I produce a Siphon very much more certain in its action, and I am therefore enabled to make the seal considerably shorter or of less depth without rendering the action of the siphon unreliable. This is an important desideratum, for it is manifest that whenever the Seal may be shortened the Siphon may be shortened as a whole a like amount and the grade of the drain-pipe into which it discharges correspondingly raised. In cases where the fall for drainage purposes is limited by natural conditions this is a feature of the utmost importance, because it enables me to put in satisfactory iushing-siphons Where it would otherwise be impracticable. By reason of this improved action I may also reduce the area of the reservoir at the highwater line, or, in lother Words, use a iiushtank of Smaller capacity.

It will be obvious that some variation in the form of the interior of the part along which the air accumulates may be made without departing from the principle of the invention. For example, in Fig. 3I have shown a Siphon in which no part of the lower bend is exactly horizontal, considered longitudinally; but the bend has the form of a very iiat curve, as shown at d6, with which part the trap D3 forms practically a right angle.

IIO

Such a construction will have approximately the same effect of retarding the air as one which is horizontal, especially if the upper side of this part d6 be made horizontal transversely, as shown in Fig. 6.

vWhile it is important that the siphon should be given such form as to cause the accumulation of as large a quantity of air as possible at the lower bend thereof, yet it is also desirable that when the bubble escapes it shall rise freely and not be retarded by rising in contact with any part of the interior of the seal. To this end,therefore, the inner angle (ZT, formed by the juncture of the top wall of the bend with the trap, is shown as extended slightly beyond the vertical side wall of the trap, this being the point where the bubble is liberated, so that when the bubble escapes to the trap it will rise freely through the liquid and will not come in contact with the interior of the trap. This causes the upheaval of the water by the bubble of escaping air to occur at thefcentral part of the upper end of the trap, and therefore spills out a greater quantity.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination with a siphon comprising a downwardly-opening intalring-limb, a longer discharge-limb and an upwardly-directed outlet-pipe forming a liquid seal, of a passage connecting said discharge-limb and seal, said passage having an upper interior surface which is horizontally elongated in the direction of flow and extends from the discharge-limb to the outlet-pipe with its advance edge coincident with or radially inside of that wall of the outlet-pipe which is nearest said passage, said surface constituting the boundary for the highest point of escape of air from the discharge-limb to the seal.

2. The combination with a Siphon provided with a vertically upwardly directed outlet forming a seal, and a lower bend connecting said seal with the discharge-limb of the siphon proper, of a projection upon the inner upper side of said bend at the juncture of the latter with the seal arranged to project laterally into the seal beyond the vertical side walls thereof.

3. In combination with a Siphon comprising a downwardly-opening intaking-limb, a longer discharging-limb, and an upwardlydirected outlet-pipe forming a liquid seal, of a relatively long horizontal passage connecting said discharge-limb and seal, the upper wall of which consists of a plane surface lying in a uniform horizontal plane, and a projection on the interior of the passage at the point of release of the air in its escape through the seal.

et. The combination With a siphon comprising a downwardly-opening intake-limb, a longer discharge-limb, and an upwardly-directed outlet-pipe forming a liquid seal, of a passage connecting said discharge-limb and seal, said passage having an upper interior surface which is horizontally elongated in the direction of flow and consists of an uninterrupted plane surface which constitutes the boundary for the highest point of escape of the air from the discharge-limb to the seal.

In testimony that l claim the foregoing as my invention l affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 4th day of January, A. D. 1896.

SIDNEY W. MlLLER.

lVitnesses:

ALBERT l-I. GRAVES, WILLIAM L. HALL. 

